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Disadvantages:a) An already created non-parent category, cannot be made into a parent category. It cannot contain other sub-categories. This means we don't have the flexibility to adjust the forum as it grows. TODO: How to create a subcategory? I created one category, but can't find the way to assign subcategories ...

b) Cannot insert an image from my computer! I only can embed the URL of an image. Case not covered: I have made a model of some OSE component and can't show to the people. TODO: is there a way to do this?

I initially recommended vanilla based on polling my coworkers. I work at a company that converts large sites off of their current platforms and onto ours. Most of the conversions are away from vbulletin with phpbb in preparation. My coworkers have done a lot of research on the question but I myself can only say I don't like vbulletin or phpbb very much based on the many random forums I've read that use them. Vanilla seems better written so far but I haven't seen it nearly as much of course.

Vanilla has Smilies and Signatures as add-ons. I have used phpBB before and I can say Vanilla is much easier to theme and customize. There are some features you might be missing or see as must have, but its nothing a couple of moments of PHP scripting could not fix. The best bet would be to download it and try it out on a test subdomain. You will be surprised, I know I was...

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ive used phpbb extensively in the past, and hands down vanilla is the better choice. like adrian said, give it a try and let us know what you think

Im starting to get used with Vanilla... maybe because i had so much trouble with phpBB. The way it organize the topics is interesting. And if its better developed, i think we should give it more time to adapt ourselves.

I would also be in favor of some platform that has upvoting. Some posts are more valuable than others - and voting would allow people really key posts to be more visible.

I think the forum should also have different views - such as Most Recent, Most Popular, By Topic, etc.

For efficient communication, I think that there should be a hashtag or such so that a user is notified via email about a relevant post.

I would like to add Mozilla Badges into the system - somehow where a person's profile is clear and their 'OSE Credit' is visible. This would allow us to develop our community, build our strengths - as we move forward.

This of course can turn into a major project, so as we roll forward, we should identify our key specs, and implement a minimum viable product for that, while agreeing that many of the other desired functions may come from other platforms.

Elifarley, can you comment on the exportability of OSE's existing forum into other platforms?